hrvtrans HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, SUBMISSIONS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 1996-06-26 PORT ELIZABETH 1 MELVIN MLULEKI MASHUMI https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/hearing.php?id=55320&t=&tab=hearings https://sabctrc.saha.org.za/originals/hrvtrans/hrvpe2/mashumi.htm DR BORAINE: I'd like to welcome you very warmly on behalf of the Commission. For obvious reasons we thought that we would make this arrangements during the tea break to be of as great of assistance of you as possible and obviously I will now ask you to stand for the taking of the oath. As I was saying, I will not ask you to stand for the taking of the oath, because you bear upon your body the marks of a very bad attack, which you are going to tell us about. So Mr Mashumi, I will ask you to take the oath, but let me make sure that you can hear me. Can you hear the voice? MR MASHUMI Fine. MELVIN MLULEKI MASHUMI (sworn states) DR BORAINE Thank you very much indeed. Mr Mashumi, you will tell the story in your own words, so I am certainly not going to repeat it now. But the fact that you were shot and very cruelly injured, must be of enormous pain to you and a burden to you. We feel with you and we want you to be just as relaxed as you possibly can be as you tell your story. Miss Tiny Maya is going to assist you to do just that and I am going to hand over to her now, thank you. MS MAYA Thank you Dr Boraine. I greet you. Sorry for keeping you too long, this whole day. Thank you for your patience as well. I just want to confirm that your names are Melvin Mluleki Mashumi and that address in the statement in front of the Commission. You find that although your PORT ELIZABETH HEARING TRC/EASTERN CAPE 2 MM MASHUMI home is in PE in 1992 you were in Cape Town where you sustained your injuries but you also have other stories to tell us. Can you tell us about yourself. The whole story about yourself from the time you left PE until you settled in Cape Town? MR MASHUMI I am very thankful for this opportunity to talk in front of this gathering. I am thankful for the opportunity to talk in front of this gathering about the injuries I sustained in Cape Town. I am Mluleki, my other name is Melvin. I stay at 1239 Kwazakeli. Can I go on? MS MAYA Yes, yes go on. MR MASHUMI The reason I am sitting in this wheelchair now it started with a rally in Cape Town in 1992. It started with a rally in Cape Town at Steve Tshwete, where I was. I went to this rally, it was full and I listened to the speeches there. And on our way out of the stadium, I saw a crowd of policemen. There were many of us. And as we were nearing, they spoke on a loud haler that we should stop what we are doing and then when we had gone past them, we stopped and we started again when we passed them. And we were facing makaya, our homes and the police shot with rubber bullets and having done that, they started with live ammunition and I was hit in that way. MS MAYA Do you remember what the rally was for, what was it about, the rally? MR MASHUMI No, it was a ANC rally. MS MAYA Were you a member of a particular organisation? MR MASHUMI I was an ANC member. PORT ELIZABETH HEARING TRC/EASTERN CAPE 3 MM MASHUMI MS MAYA You mentioned someone who was going to address the rally. What was he going to talk about and who was he? MR MASHUMI It was Steve Tshwete, but I can't remember what he said because it is a long time since then, I've forgotten. MS MAYA So you sustained injuries as a result of the shooting? MR MASHUMI Yes, yes I did. MS MAYA How were your injuries? MR MASHUMI I was shot on my thigh and this arm. MS MAYA Were you taken to hospital? MR MASHUMI Yes I was taken to Grootte Schuur hospital but under police protection. I was under police protection in Grootte Schuur hospital. MS MAYA How long did you stay there? MR MASHUMI No, they didn't treat me there. I think I spent a week without receiving any treatment, then I was changed and I was taken to Tygerberg. Even in Tygerberg they didn't even touch me. I was transferred to Conradie, that's where the treatment started. MS MAYA What did they do at Conradie? MR MASHUMI They operated on me at Conradie. Two operations that I underwent. One on the thigh, the other on the arm. MS MAYA So when did you first realise that your - the lower part of your body could not work? MR MASHUMI At the time I was shot because immediately after I was shot, my lower body couldn't work. MS MAYA How long did you stay in Conradie? MR MASHUMI It could have been eight to nine months, because I came back in 1993. PORT ELIZABETH HEARING TRC/EASTERN CAPE 4 MM MASHUMI MS MAYA And the costs, the hospital costs, who paid that? MR MASHUMI No, no one has paid that. MS MAYA So what is the situation with regard to that now? MR MASHUMI No, no one has returned it to them because no one is working even at my home. MS MAYA You stated in your statement that you did have some conflict with the police besides that encounter in Cape Town so much that you left PE to go and hide somewhere. Can you tell us more about that? MR MASHUMI Here in PE there was a mayor in our area, his name was Qnala, his house was destroyed together with the other one of the police and then some comrades were identified and I was - some of us were pointed out and then I ran away because I was scared. I ran to Alice. MS MAYA Why did the policemen destroy the house? MR MASHUMI He didn't like what we were doing. He didn't like the ANC. MS MAYA So when did you come back from Alice? MR MASHUMI I came back when I thought that things were quieter. MS MAYA There is something else you mentioned that happened to you on your return from Cape Town after you sustained the injuries. What happened? MR MASHUMI At the airport as I was alighting from the airplane, two Boers appeared and I recognized them as police from Le Grange police station. They asked if I was Mashumi, I said yes, I am Mashumi and they took photographs of me and they left. MS MAYA Did you know their names? MR MASHUMI No. No, I didn't but I can point them out PORT ELIZABETH HEARING TRC/EASTERN CAPE 5 MM MASHUMI if they can be paraded. MS MAYA After you reached home, did you not get any harassment? MR MASHUMI No, they came - some came one morning very early in the morning, but not the ones that I met at the airport. MS MAYA What did they do? MR MASHUMI They said they wanted to take a statement from me about my injuries. I said no I didn't have a statement for them. MS MAYA And so what happened? MR MASHUMI They never came back. Then one Detective from New Brighton came, I don't know his name, he came to my place. He said he was sent by my lawyer from Cape Town to get a statement from me. So I went into his car with my sister in case this Detective wanted to lock me up again, so my sister went with me and this man took a statement and he brought me back. MS MAYA About your injuries, did anyone get arrested? MR MASHUMI No. MS MAYA Was there any case afterwards in court? MR MASHUMI I did claim whilst I was in hospital in Cape Town and I was being visited by a lawyer now and again in hospital and even when I came out of hospital, he wrote me a letter in 1994 and since 1994, 1995, he has never contacted me by letter again. But I wrote to him, but he never responded. I still know his name, Trias Paprio was his name. MS MAYA And now, are you getting any assistance or grant? MR MASHUMI Well, I am getting a disability pension. MS MAYA And your wheelchair, how did you get it, how did PORT ELIZABETH HEARING TRC/EASTERN CAPE 6 MM MASHUMI you get it? Was it yourself or was it the Government? MR MASHUMI No, I bought this last year with the money I get. MS MAYA Is it from your own pocket? MR MASHUMI I got it on account with the money I pay. MS MAYA How far are you now with the payments for it? MR MASHUMI No, I haven't, it was R1 300-00 but I haven't settled it yet. MS MAYA I know that by appearing here, you sure must have an aim. Can you tell the Commission what your aim and your wish is? MR MASHUMI I would like the Commission to investigate my case, to find out also from the lawyer what happened, and why he is so quiet. MS MAYA Anything else you would like to say to the Commission? MR MASHUMI Yes. Also at my place I was the breadwinner and I have two children. The one's mother is in Alice, the other mother is in PE and no one is looking after me. MS MAYA How old are the kids, are they at school? MR MASHUMI The one in PE I left with the mother. I haven't seen him, but the mother does write and ask for some clothes and sends cards, then I explain to her that I can't do anything, I can't help because I am confined to a wheelchair. MS MAYA This one in PE how old is he? MR MASHUMI Still very young. Still very, very small. MS MAYA How old is he, do you know? Has he started school? MR MASHUMI No, he hasn't started school. He would have started this year because the age is that of someone who PORT ELIZABETH HEARING TRC/EASTERN CAPE 7 MM MASHUMI should be starting, but I don't have the money. MS MAYA Thank you Mr Mashumi, I just want to hand over to the Chairperson. REVD TUTU Any questions? Dr Boraine has a question. DR BORAINE Thank you Chairperson. Mr Mashumi, thank you for telling us your story. Just a couple of questions to help me understand. First in this whole, let me just test it out, can you hear, is that all right? Let me try that again, can you hear my voice on the translation? Okay. All right. You were shot coming from a rally and there were many people there. Were you ever charged for anything that happened on that day? Shall I repeat the question. You were shot by the police when you were coming from Steve Tshwete's rally. Did the police ever come to you and charge you with anything like public violence or anything at all? MR MASHUMI No, they didn't. They didn't come. DR BORAINE And the only action that you have taken is not a criminal action, but a civil action through your lawyers, is that right? MR MASHUMI Yes, that is so. DR BORAINE Had very little satisfaction from the lawyer, so you've been in touch with the Minister of Justice, Mr Dulah Omar, is that right? MR MASHUMI That is so, that is so. DR BORAINE Has sent the matter to the Law Society, is that true? MR MASHUMI Yes, that is so. DR BORAINE What makes me very angry is that and if it makes me angry, I can imagine what it does to you, that you were injured in 1992, it is now 1996, you've had no satisfaction from anybody in this matter, is that true? PORT ELIZABETH HEARING TRC/EASTERN CAPE 8 MM MASHUMI MR MASHUMI Yes, it is so. DR BORAINE Thank you very much. I think that this is something which the Commission will want to try and look at and see if we can't make it happen quicker, even whatever the result is, we can't tell you what that result will be, but we certainly must try and do everything we can. One last question. You are the breadwinner, you are a paraplegic living on a wheelchair, is there anybody who cares for you, who helps to feed you or to wash you, or clothe you? Do you have any help? MR MASHUMI My grandmother does take care of me. My own grandmother. DR BORAINE To say that we are grateful that there is someone who can help you at this time, but of course she is an old lady and probably needs some help and care herself. We will try and do everything we can, thank you. REVD TUTU Thank you for coming. My colleagues have already expressed their gratitude for your patience waiting for such a long time. Your request will be attended to as has been stated so we can see whether your claim could be settled quicker and also assist you seeing that you are being looked - there is no one else who is working. Thank you very much.